The Ghost of You and Me
by Ztarlight
Summary: Another songfic from me. This time it's a slash. It's pretty one-sided... Dib's side to be specific, mainly because Zim d--- oh, just R&R!... Pleeze?


(Hello, all... erm, I mean, HIYA! I'm taking a little break from "Wind Song", mainly b/c I'm too lazy to write it. XD This is something I've been DYING to  
write for months, and I finally got off my fat butt to write it!!  
  
Doryn: It's about time.  
  
Ztarlight: What the---- how did you get here? I threw you out the window!!  
  
Doryn: I have wings, remember?  
  
Ztarlight: ::banging her head on the wall:: Why - [bonk!] - did - [bonk!] - I - [bonk!] - give - [bonk!] - him [bonk!] - wings?!?!?  
  
Doryn: ::helping her bash her face in:: Why - [bonk!] - did - [bonk!] - you - [bonk!] - make - [bonk!] - me - [bonk!] pink?!?!?!!?  
  
Ztarlight: ::sighs:: In the most recent chapter of Wind Song, my muse, Doryn, got on my nerves so I threw him out the window. For those who are just  
joining us, Doryn is my new muse.  
  
Doryn: I'm your ONLY muse...  
  
Ztarlight: Like I was saying... he looks like a pink dog with dragon wings. He likes to mock me, and is always trying to kill me for some reason.  
  
Doryn: As nice as it is to talk about me for once, what about your fic?  
  
Ztarlight: Oh, yes! Like I said, I've been wanting to do this story for quite some time now. It takes place in the future, Dib is about twenty or so, and it  
*is* a slash, so if your not a kind, warm, open-minded person like me, YOU CAN GET LOST!!!!  
  
Doryn: *That's* kind and warm?!  
  
Ztarlight: ::blushes nervously:: Well, I'm still open-minded...  
  
Doryn: Whatever...  
  
Ztarlight: Well, as you know by now, I dun own IZ, and I dun own this lovely BBMak song... it sure is a pretty one though...  
==========================  
  
  
  
The Ghost of You and Me  
  
  
/What am I supposed to do/  
/With all these blues?/  
/Haunting me, everywhere,/  
/No matter what I do.../  
  
  
"How did it happen?"  
  
This was a question that Dib found himself asking a lot recently. When he woke up, when he went out to eat, before bed... it was the first thought on  
his mind when he awoke and the last one before he drifted into his personal nightly void. How did it happen? How did he fall in love with Zim?  
  
...and why was he too blind to see it?  
  
"It's my own fault...."  
  
"I was too late..."  
  
"Oh, God. Why?"  
  
Why.  
  
Why did he have to suffer such heartache? They weren't going to be together anyway, so why did he feel so helpless? Dib watched the candlelight  
dance in front of him. He didn't like using lamps anymore. The candles made him feel better, gave him hope. The flame, it looks like a strong, noble  
force, but it's blown out so easily. Yet, the fire always returns, triumphant in it's quest. That's how Dib felt these days. He had become a popular public  
figure since he had sucessfully exposed Zim. He had to appear strong. But every time someone would mention the Irken...  
  
Sighing, Dib looked up at the clock. 6:15 P.M. The sun had just set a short moment ago. The days were getting shorter, winter was coming.  
  
Winter was going to be a lot lonlier this year.  
  
  
/Watching the candle flicker out/  
/In the evening glow.../  
/I can't let go!/  
/When will this night be over?/  
  
  
Dib lay there on the couch, too afraid to go to his room. It hadn't been that long ago... they were performing some tests on Zim. Everything was going  
fine, until... something in the breathing apparatus caused a rash to break out on his insides. The scientists refuesed to treat him, and as a result Zim  
became infected with a virus. Before long, it had spread to his heart, and then---  
  
[Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...]  
  
He passed away.  
  
Just gave out. Right there.   
  
Dib had a hard time sleeping that night. He had seen Zim die. The image haunted him... he was so pale, his skin looked to be an ashen gray rather  
than a vibrant green. His antannea drooped over his face, and that expression he wore when he closed his eyes for the last time...  
  
It was directed at Dib.  
  
It was a pleading look, one that screamed, "Help me!" but at the same time, it was almost as if Zim wanted to wish Dib good luck with his newfound  
fame. The look... he cold never fully delete it from his head. He couldn't sleep, not with that face staring back at him. The lips were unmoving, but Dib  
could almost hear his name being called in Zim's voice...  
  
That was when he realized that he *could* hear Zim's voice.  
  
It wasn't angry or sad, but it had a very hollow tone, a very blank echo riging through it. Dib could have also sworn he had even seen his spirit. He had  
always believed in ghosts, but seeing a real one... *Zim's* no less... it scared the shit out of him.  
  
And ever since that day, Dib kept away from his bedroom.  
  
  
/I didn't mean to fall in love with you/  
/And baby there's a name for what/  
/You put me through/  
/It isn't love - it's robbery,/  
/I'm sleeping with the ghost of you and me.../  
  
  
He recalled the scene again. Zim didn't even fight, which was what really surprised Dib. Zim? Not fighing? It was unheard of, unless...  
  
Zim wanted to die.  
  
He wanted to get back at Dib...  
  
"Well, it worked..." Dib mumbled to the ceiling. The clock again. 10:35 P.M. He'd been up all night. The need for food arose in Dib's stomach.   
Grumbling, he rolled off the couch and grabbed his jacket. "There's gotta be a place open SOMEwhere..." Grabbing his coat, Dib decided to walk.  
  
'Twas a short walk to the local diner, and on the way Dib noticed that there were a lot of people out for this late in the evening. They all looked dead.  
Their expression were ghostly, as if they didn't care if the Earth blew up at that very second. (Thanks to me, the earth won't blow up...) Dib thought   
sadly. It took Zim's death for Dib to realize that the world *was* in pretty bad shape. Maybe Zim should've took over...  
  
"What am I saying?!" Dib scolded himself as he walked into the diner and sat down. "This is my home, my life, my..." Dib trailed off as he looked out  
the window. The zombies were out there still, living their pitiful lives. Odd... they never looked that way until Zim died. "... my world... or it it?"  
  
  
/Seen a lot of broken hearts   
/Go sailing by/  
/Phantom ships, lost at sea/  
/And one of them is mine/  
  
  
He glanced across the street again and saw the "Chez Faire". It was a fancy restaurant that Dib had gone to once with some friends for a party... an  
anniversary or something like that. He didn't really remember. It was a nice place... he had wanted to go back there with Zim, to show him that human  
life wan't all bad. Dib laughed bitterly. "Funny I should want that... *I'm* the one who sentenced him to the realm of eternal sleep, after all." He glanced   
away. "How I regret it..."  
  
Sighing, he grabbed his coffee cup and offered it to the Heavens. "I wish you luck, Zim... please forgive me..."   
  
  
/Raising my glass, I sing a toast/  
/To the midnight sky/  
/I wonder why/  
/The stars don't seem to guide me?/  
  
  
DIb finished and paid his tab. He wandered aimlessly for a while. (Maybe something will happen to me...) he thought. (Then I can be with Zim and   
evrything will be alright! Unless...)  
  
"What if he doesn't love me back?"  
  
  
/I didn't mean to fall in love with you/  
/And baby there's a name for what/   
/You put me through/  
/It isn't love - it's robbery,/  
/I'm sleeping with the ghost of you and me/  
  
  
Home again.  
  
(Set up a few more candles, lay back down on the couch, look at the clock - no, *stare* at the clock, and wait for it to slowly turn into whatever fate has  
in store for you...) 11:45 P.M. Blah. How he felt like dirt... letting the only person that he cared about in this cruel world slip away. He cried out every  
night for him to go, too, but Fate never took him. Fate would just toss him into another pit and watch him squirm. He'd never get out for good. Not as long  
as he held Dib's heart...  
  
"Please, Zim," he whispered into the empty void, "Just let me go..."  
  
  
/The ghost of you and me!/  
/When will it set me free?/  
/I hear the voices call/  
/Following footsteps down the hall/  
/Trying to save what's left of my/   
/Heart and soul.../  
  
  
Dib stared at his candle display some more. That's when he heard a noise behind him... footsteps? "Hello?" Dib called uncertainly. No answer, just  
the same slow footsteps. They were hauntingly familiar... "Who's there?"  
  
~*Diiiiiiiiibbb...*~  
  
"No..." Dib gasped. "Not again... not here...!"  
  
~*Diiiiiiiiibbb...*~  
  
Dib stood up slowly, stating on guard. "What do you want, Zim?"  
  
A sudden breeze swept through the room, blowing the candles out. Darkness. Dib was all alone on the dark, just him,  
  
And Zim.  
  
The voices...  
  
Voices started echoing in the hallway and flew everywhere. No matter where Dib ran, he could hear him... hear Zim... calling his name...  
  
"No, NO!" Dib cried. "Leave me alone Zim! Stop it! Please!"  
  
  
/Watching the candle flicker out/  
/In the evening glow.../  
/I can't let go!/  
/Whan will the night be over?/  
  
  
Running, running, Dib had to run. It didn't help, but he felt better is he ran away. Maybe he could get out...  
  
Suddenly he fell forward and hit the floor with a loud {thump!} The footsteps... they were coming closer, and the voices were only getting louder... there  
was no stopping them! What could he do? He fell, he was down, he'd never be able to get back up, not without getting caught by---  
  
~*Dib!*~  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
  
/I didn't mean to fall in love with you/  
/And baby, there's a name for what/  
/You put me through/  
/It isn't love - it's robbery,/  
/I'm sleeping with the ghost of you and me./  
  
  
Dib's desperate wails reached the ears of no living soul. Whimpering, he pulled himself into a ball, eyes shut tightly, and breathed in short gasps. "I'm...  
I'm sorry,... Zim. I didn't know, I never thought that I could feel this way."  
  
~*Dib...*~  
  
"If I had known that you in so much pain, I mihgt have been able to prevent this nightmare from ever happening."  
  
~*Dib...*~  
  
"If... if only I had stopped to think... think that just because you were an alien, that your feelings were not. Just... please, leave me alone...."   
  
~*Dib!*~  
  
A white figure suddenly appeared in front of Dib, and light hands touched his cheeks. Dib looked up and widened his eyes in shock. "..."  
  
~*I forgive you...*~  
  
A cool sensation passed over Dib's lips, and the form vanished. Just like that  
  
  
/I never meant to fall in love with you/  
/And baby, there's a name for what/  
/You put me through/  
/It isn't love, it's robbery,/  
/I'm sleeping with the ghost of you and me./  
  
  
Dib just stared straight ahead. Slowly he brought a hand to his mouth. No more noises, no more bumps in the night, no more voices in his dreams. He  
could rest now... Zim was finally at peace.   
  
Dib sighed, relaxed for the first time in months, when he cought something blinking out of the corner of his eye.  
  
The candle was lit... 


End file.
